Partner Post: 5 Ways Communities Can Work Together to Stop Non-Violent Crime
This content was republished with permission from Flock Safety.
“A porch pirate stole my package!” We are seeing more and more posts like this come across our social media feeds. With over 7.6 million property crimes reported in 2017 and the use of eCommerce sites like Amazon on the rise, this story continues to repeat across the nation. Unfortunately, 87% of non-violent crimes like burglary go unsolved. This is due to lack of evidence.
It is pretty shocking to hear that the lack of evidence means there is only a 1 in 10 chance that police can solve a crime when it occurs in your community. In speaking with local authorities, they expressed a need for communities to work together to help gather actionable intelligence to bring justice for victims. Here are five steps your communities can take to work together and eliminate non-violent crime.
#1 Build a security plan.
The first step to neighborhood safety is making sure you have a security plan that helps prevent and solve crime. Do the neighbors know each other? Who do they contact if something occurs? Create a directory with each person in the neighborhood, including name, email, phone number, and if they have an outdoor security camera.
#2 Invest in home security.
There are many affordable preventive technologies for homeowners to invest in like doorbell cameras and home security systems. These are great at identifying when an incident occurred and to see if you can pick up any details on the suspect and/or vehicles involved.
#3 Warn off would-be burglars.
Place neighborhood watch or warning signs at the entrances of the neighborhoods. Put floodlights in the amenities areas. Your goal is to make it as obvious as possible that thieves will be watched and caught if they try anything.
#4 Capture the license plate.
Based on research, 70 - 80% of crime is committed with a vehicle. Tracking down the details related to the car can be the pivotal turning point in a case. This can be done with an automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera. This specific video technology is designed to capture numbers and letters from a license plate that is either still or moving and gives the police the evidence they need to solve crime.
#5 Check your budget.
On the other end of the spectrum are higher-end options to protect the whole community like security gates, off-duty patrol officers, and military grade technology. All of these are considerable investments, but they can help pull together the story for the police to better understand the case.
When property managers and their neighborhood associations combine their actions, resources, and information, the whole community benefits and can eliminate property crimes.
For more information, please contact:
Meg Heusel
404.991.3293
meg@flocksafety.com